Headrests have long been provided for use in conjunction with supports as varied as medical examination and operating tables, exercise tables and sunbathing aids. They are provided for supporting the head of an individual by cradling either the back of the user's head or the user's face in such a manner as to permit the individual to breathe comfortably. Examples of such headrests can be found by reference to U.S. Pat. No. 348,655 issued to Bretherton; U.S. Pat. No. 418,004 issued to Frick; U.S. Pat. No. 2,551,727 issued to Costello; and U.S. Pat. No. Des. 249,360 issued to Lacock.
For almost as long as such headrests have been provided, the desirability for such headrest to be adjustable to best suit the particular features of the individual who is being supported thereby has also been recognized. This is done so as to support the patient's head relative to their body in the best possible position. Such a feature is especially important to position the cranial area of patients with neck injuries, so as to provide the proper skeletal and muscular relationships which such patients need.
In response to the above, many headrests have been fitted, so as to provide such adjustability. Examples of such headrests have been disclosed in the following U.S. Pat. Nos.:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Inventor(s) Year of Issue ______________________________________ 933,471 Leahy 1909 1,134,720 Bradley 1915 1,728,025 Weber 1929 2,509,086 Eaton 1950 2,564,323 Brown 1951 2,684,064 Thompson 1954 2,861,279 Myers 1958 3,114,527 Demarest 1963 3,606,302 Willard, et al. 3,806,110 Glasser, et al. 1974 4,681,370 Vancil 1987 4,917,363 Evans, et al. 1990 ______________________________________
While being useful for their purposes, to make adjustments to the height and/or angle of those head-rests in order to better accommodate the patient, the disclosures noted above rely upon the use of arrangements that are either complicated, expensive, adjustable in only one orientation and/or which require the use of two hands to operate the mechanisms thereof which secure and release the headrest, so that the desired adjustments of the height and angle of the headrest relative to the support may be made. Many also offer only one, centrally positioned support for the headrest.
It is noted that if two hands are needed to operate the mechanism that secures or releases the headrest, then the user does not have any free hand to move the headrest into the desired position therefor. Accordingly, readjustments of the position of the headrest are often required. In a similar fashion, in devices where both sides of the headrest need to be secured and released individually, then readjustment of at least one of the sides of the headrest is often necessary in order to insure the proper height and angle relative to the support.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,463,410, issued to Morris, and U.S. Pat. No. 2,958,373 issued to Behrens, each provide headrest devices that provide separate pivoting joints for height and angular adjustment of the head position. However, in each of these references, the angular and height adjustments are provided by mechanical means that are complicated or expensive. Mechanisms are also employed that require the use of two hands to secure or release the headrest. For example, in Morris, the headrest is locked into position by the use of bolts and nuts that are located on both sides of the headrest. These nuts and bolts must be tightened or loosened by the use of a wrench or other similar element and require the use of two hands to perform.
It is further noted that it is desirable to provide a headrest in which both sides thereof are joined to, or otherwise supported by, the support. Such an arrangement provides the headrest with increased stability which is especially important where medical injuries and operative procedures are involved.
To the best of my knowledge, there is no headrest that is adjustable both in height and in angle relative to the table in which both sides thereof are joined to the support, and wherein both of these sides may be simultaneously secured or released with the use of only one hand, so that the other hand is free to simultaneously move and adjust the headrest to the height and angle desired. In this regard, there is no disclosure of which I am aware in which a "double-locking action"--that is, wherein both sides of the device ar simultaneously locked and released --is either disclosed or provided. Further in this regard, it is noted that none of the references provide a cam lock, or a camming action or other equivalent structure or action which can be activated and deactivated with the use of only one hand in order to permit the headrest to be moved and adjusted with the other hand.
Accordingly, it can be seen that there remains a need for a headrest whose height and angle may be selectively adjusted with the use of only one hand by the use of simple and inexpensive cam locks that exert camming actions.